


Supposed Geekdom

by IreneSpring



Category: The West Wing
Genre: At least as close to fluff as I am capable of, F/F, First Attempt at Romance, Fluff, Lord of the Rings, Post-Canon, Short Story, The President is in this too sort of but not enough to warrant a full character tag, post-administration
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-08
Updated: 2019-10-08
Packaged: 2020-11-27 23:00:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20956340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IreneSpring/pseuds/IreneSpring
Summary: After watching Lord of the Rings, Kate discovers that C.J. is (surprisingly) a big fan. Fluff.





	Supposed Geekdom

**Author's Note:**

> Some explaining: I'm not a huge ship person, and as such rarely write romance. This is basically my first attempt at writing romance for publishing. Do not expect greatness. While, as previously stated, I'm not a fan of romance writing in general, I do really like the C.J./Kate ship, and might do more writing for it in the (near?) future. Many thanks to my dear friend esmeraldablazingsky for the inspiration for this story, and for being my "Lord of the Rings" resource/fact-checker! Check out her stuff if you like LoTR/Silmarillion/Children of Húrin. She's a very good writer. I hope you enjoy the story!

Kate laughs as C.J. turns the television off. C.J. leans back comfortably, resting her head against Kate’s shoulder.

“That was fun,” she says quietly.

“Yeah, I had no idea you were a geek,” Kate teases. C.J. sits up, eyes flashing with hurt momentarily before realizing Kate’s eyes are sparkling with genuine amusement.

“I’m not a geek.”

“Ceej, you’re a geek.”

“I’ll have you know that _ Lord of the Rings _is a global best seller.”

“I’m not saying you’re the _ only _geek.”

“I like the books.”

“You named all the characters as they appeared onscreen,” Kate counters.

“Oh please, even you could have recognized Gandalf.”

“But not Aragorn, or Elrond, or Boromir, and I still didn’t know which one’s Merry and which one’s Pippin.”

“You’re the one who is nationally ranked at Risk.”

“That board game is related to what I do for a living.”

“Yeah, right.”

“So… have you ever been to a convention?”

“What?” C.J. asks, eyes widening in surprise.

“You know, the kind where people dress up as the characters and talk in Elvish.”

“There are multiple Elvish languages.” Kate burst out laughing at the irritated look on C.J.’s face. “No, I’ve never been to a convention,” C.J. answers finally.

“It’s a shame, you would look sexy in one of those elf costumes,” Kate says, laughing. C.J. hits her in the arm playfully and they both lean back on the couch. “I never knew you liked fantasy books.”

“Well what else would I read?” C.J. asks.

“Hmmm… knowing you… lesbian romance novels in the covers of economic analysis books in case anyone invades your desk.” C.J. glares at her, but leans into her shoulder further.

“I like one specific series of fantasy books, that hardly makes me a die-hard fantasy geek.”

“So why do you like _ Lord of the Rings _, if it really is an anomaly.”

“Childhood memories.” 

“Actually?”

“Yeah. My oldest brother got into them, and he brought my other brother along, and then my mother made me read them because I was already reading at a higher level than my school would provide and ‘fantasy isn’t just for boys, Claudia Jean.’”

“That hardly explains why you, at 44 years old, still recognize the characters and know the plot by heart.”

“Well… I was super into it for a while because at certain periods of time at school I didn’t fit in that great and my mom died so I was sad and bitter, and _ Lord of the Rings _ gave me a connection to her and something to talk about to some people, even if they were mostly boys.”

“I’m sorry I made fun of you,” Kate says softly, kissing C.J. on the cheek.

“Oh please, it was quite a show when I went to see the movies in theaters.”

“What happened?” Kate asks.

“A blogger tailed me and wrote a story about my supposed geekdom,” C.J. says, laughing, “and on a slow news day… it was a nightmare.”

“I’m surprised I didn’t know, I googled you before we were introduced.”

“I wish you had found it, it would have made for a great conversation.”

“Well I didn’t want to discuss character analysis with you so much as I wanted to make out with you in a closet.” 

“Kate Harper, are you saying you aren’t interested in my mind?” C.J. asks playfully.

“Oh I am interested in everything about you… just not in the plight of Smeagol/Gollum.”

“Look at you! Recognizing both aspects of the character! You’re learning!” C.J. says delightedly.

“You and the President must have geeked out so hard.”

“Oh, he doesn’t know.”

“What?”

“He’d be insufferable. I’m not even a real fan in his eyes, I haven’t read the _ Silmarillion _or anything.”

“The Silly-what-now?”

“It’s a subset book thing. I haven’t read it. I’ll bet you $30 the President can name all of the characters.”

“I’m going to tell him.”

“You will not.”

“I’m sure he’ll be thrilled.” Kate rises from the chair and walks over to the landline and C.J. protests again but doesn’t get up, instead leaning her head back against the pillows and smiling. Kate dials the number.

“Tell him I say ‘hi!’” C.J. calls. The phone picks up right as Kate is about to respond.

“Hello, Mr. President!... It’s Kate, sir… She’s good, she says ‘hi’... No, we haven’t had any problems lately, sir… I’m happy about it too, sir… Mr. President, did you know C.J. is a fan of _ Lord of the Rings _?… She is indeed, sir… I agree it’s most excellent,” Kate turns to C.J. and flashes an evil smile, to which C.J. rolls her eyes, “Well we were watching the movies… Yes, she’s read the books… No, I have not read the books… Fine, I will read them… I mean it! I will… You do that, sir… Have a great day!... Bye!” Kate hangs up the phone and turns back towards C.J.

“I have a homework assignment.”

“Let me guess, you need to read _ Lord of the Rings _?”

“He’s going to quiz me the next time we’re in the same room.”

“I'll bring you my copies, they’re signed and everything,” C.J. enthuses, retrieving the books from her shelf.

“Hasn’t J.R.R. Tolkien been dead for a while?” Kate asks, accepting the books with a quizzical expression on her face.

“Yes, but I’ll have you know that several of the movie actors have shown up to the White House over the years.”

“Did you humiliate yourself?”

“You were in the room.”

“Ohh… right… curse your professionalism.” C.J. hits her in the arm again and they grin at each other for a few moments. “Well, I should be going, we both have work tomorrow.”

“I would ask you to stay but I think you need privacy to get reading.” They kiss briefly at the doorway, and C.J. waves as Kate gets into her car.

The next morning, C.J. opens her laptop to find an email from JedBartlet@aol.com and opens the email.

_ **Subject** : your excellent taste in literature _

_ Hi1 shift didn’t work, sorry kid. abbey says i need a technological assistant but i would be fine if the computer would shift properly. i don’t know why they call it ‘shift’ since it should really be _ _ called capitalize but that’s another email. kate tells me you like lord of the rings. i wish you had mentioned it because it would have been an excellent excuse to show the movies in the white _ _ house. you make sure she reads the books for you. we should talk about the books. i assume you have a decent knowledge of elvish and elvish lineages. there have been some lovely poems _ _ written in elvish i think I should show you. did you know the entirety of the children of hurin is also in poetry form/ we should read it1 anyways, i love you, kid. have a good one _

C.J. grins to herself as she moves to her work emails. She begins reciting facts from the books to herself, knowing that she’ll need to help Kate study before the President’s interrogation. She’s surprised to find that she’s already looking forward to the next time Kate comes over. Kate makes her laugh, makes her feel warmer, just makes her feel happy in general. On top of all of it, Kate is also helping her reconnect with her family. Kate is the Faramir to her Éowyn, and somehow, she knows they will have a happy ending.

**Author's Note:**

> So... should I write more? Should I burn everything I've ever written? Leave a comment to let me know your thoughts! Thanks for reading!!!


End file.
